Irish expert: GM-free diets for pigs 'unrealistic'

A leading tillage expert in Ireland has warned that
applauding genetically modified feed for pigs and poultry in fact means
embracing an 'anti-competitive system which is doomed to failure', the Irish
Times reports.

Prof Jimmy Burke, who was speaking at a Bioenergy 07 event in the Irish
county of Carlow, said that Ireland is importing half its protein for the pig
and poultry sector from the US, and this is already causing problems for the
industry.

Unable to recoverHe said that those who fed
their pigs and poultry on GM-free diets were unable to recover the higher costs
from the market, and it was, therefore, anti-competitive and had very serious
implications for the pig and poultry sector.

Burke added, "Ireland's
position on that and saying we would only go down a route where we would only
source non-GM feed is not a realistic option."

"We need to start
sitting up and taking notice because that is a real threat to the
sector."

When it was put to him that consumers did not want to eat
meat grown on GM-grown crops and would be prepared to pay a premium, Prof Burke
replied that was not the case as those who fed GM-free feed were not getting the
returns from the marketplace.